About Me

My name is Christen, I'm 30 years old and a stay-at-home mom to my three beautiful girls, Lauren, Hailey, and Farrah. My husband David and I live on scenic Long Island and we love it. Our party of 5 keeps pretty busy, but I try to set aside as much time as I can to blog (which isn't as often as I'd like these days).

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Friday, July 15, 2016

Well, I have a little news (blueberry sized to be exact) to share...my husband and I are expecting baby #3! :-)

I know a lot of people wait until at least 12 weeks to announce, but I never have. I can't keep a secret - especially my own!!!

Baby Burros #3 is due on February 25th 2017. And since we already have two beautiful girls and this is our last child, I'll be doing a lot of gender speculation posts on my blog until we have our anatomy scan. Just some fun to pass the time!

A few of the theories and test reviews I will be posting are Ramzi, Baking Soda & Cabbage Test, Intelligender, and SneakPeek. So feel free to check in on my posts if you're also expecting and enjoy the guessing game just as much!

My ultrasound at 7w4d. My husband thinks the fetus looks like a cradle on a hill. LOL.

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Naturally, with a new baby, I haven't updated my blog in a while. It's also been a lot more hectic than usual because my husband and I bought another house and we've been renovating non-stop since we've moved in. But now I'm taking a hiatus from the renovations for my sanity and I'd like to sllllllow things down.

Other than my blog being neglected, so has my health! I'm starting a new series. I'm going to title it "Weighing in with Christen". This blog series will be centered around my trip-ups and triumphs as I work toward a healthier weight. My first goal is to get down to my pre-pregnancy weight since I delivered my younger daughter back in May. Before I got pregnant again, I lost nearly 100lbs and successfully maintained that loss until I reach my second trimester of pregnancy. Now, I'm carrying around about 20lbs extra and between the move and renovations we had going on, I didn't have a kitchen for several months and we ate fast food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Finally, all of my pores are unclogged. *shudders*

If I order any more fast food for the remainder of my life - it'll be too soon. That excludes pizza though. ;-)

Now that I've completely derailed this year, I'd like to talk about a few goals I've made for myself that are fairly small. Realistically, as a mom of 2 with a spouse that commutes almost two hours to and from work, I haven't found the time to exercise at all. I simply never have anyone to watch the kids. Sure, I could exercise from home with workout DVDs - but I can't imagine truly being able to focus on proper technique with a 3 year old weaving in between my legs. The kids zap all of my energy. I know, I know. It sounds like an excuse. Maybe it is. But that's something I really want to touch on here. How do you have a healthier lifestyle that includes daily exercise when you have kids? I haven't bothered to figure it out. I realize that there are others mothers that can make it happen and I envy that.

With that being said, my first goal is to GET to the gym. It sounds lame - but I will find ANY excuse not to go. I'll even accept a half-assed attempt of walking down my porch and towards the car to pretend like I'm going. Am I seriously that lazy when it comes to exercise? Yes, my friend. Yes. NO SHAME.

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Last month I was asked to review a jewelry candle of my choice from Jackpot Candles. I was very excited to try one of their scents as I'm familiar with the concept of jewelry candles and have become quite the collector.

Jackpot Candles sells a variety of all natural scented soy candles that contain a piece of jewelry hidden somewhere inside of the candle. You can choose a candle that holds a ring, a set of earrings, or a necklace. I love the fact that there are different jewelry surprises, and the choice is yours what kind of jewelry surprise you'll get! If you choose to get a ring candle, you can even specify size - which is something that other companies, like Diamond Candles, don't offer as an option.

I browsed the somewhat limited offering of scents and went back and forth between Banana Nut Bread and Hot Fudge Brownie. I wanted a familiar and comforting "foodie" scent to burn in my kitchen. I opted for a Banana Nut Bread candle with a ring surprise and specified that I wore a size 8. The candle arrived quickly and was packaged securely. I took a good whiff and it smelled EXACTLY like banana nut bread should when it's fresh out of the oven. In fact, it smelled so fresh that my husband thought I had actually baked something and was seemingly disappointed when I told him it only a candle burning! Ha.

My Banana Nut Bread candle by Jackpot Candles

SURPRISE!!!

I started burning it immediately. I brought it with me from room to room because I just couldn't wait for the surprise inside. My ring was nestled somewhere inside the candle about 1/4 of the way into the wax in a blue foil ball. Finally, the fun part! I blew out the candle and grabbed my favorite tweezers to gently remove the foil from the candle and onto a paper towel that I had folded in half to prevent wax from getting on the surface of my electric stove. After it cooled down a bit, I opened the foil to reveal my ring surprise that was in a tiny plastic bag to keep off any wax that might have leaked through the foil. My ring is an abstract design with what appears to be garnet stone - my birthstone! The ring is my style, but fits a little snug due to my swollen pregnant fingers.

What did your jewelry appraise at?

As an added bonus, the Jackpot Candles website has its own instant jewelry appraisal feature. After your surprise is revealed, you'll see a unique code attached to it that you can enter on the website to see how much your new jewelry is worth. My ring was appraised at $19.00. Feeling lucky? You could hit the jackpot and receive a candle that contains a fine jewelry item appraised at $5,000!!! Hey, it could happen...

I'll definitely try out another scent after my Banana Nut Bread candle has completely burned down. But I'm hoping to see Jackpot Candles expand the list of scents available in the future.Visit Jackpot Candleswebsite to enter your e-mail for an instant $5.00 Off Your Order coupon code!!!Disclosure: This product was sent to me free of charge in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are strictly my own and were in no way influenced by the exchange. A special thanks to Jodie from Marketing for considering Beauty and the Blocks.

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

You may have noticed that my blog is missing some graphics and looks like it'll be shut down, but I assure you, that's not the case. I'm working on launching a new look and "feel" to my blog and I accidentally deleted some photo files. I hope to have everything back on track as soon as possible.

Tuesday, October 07, 2014

Hello Target Beauty Lovers!As of yesterday, Target has launched the third edition of their new Beauty Box.

Unlike the first edition, the Beauty Boxes that have been sold since were not filled with surprise items - the box is featured on their www.target.com website HERE and gives a breakdown of all included products before you opt to purchase it. The box is available online only.The box has also raised in price. It's now $7.00 (shipping is still free).

The current box includes:- LOréal Colour Riche Extraordinaire Lipstick* (.18 fl oz)- Laneige BB Cushion Sample (Target Exclusive)- Elnett Extra Strong Hold Hairspray (2.2 oz)- Fekkai Professional Blowout Hair Refresher Dry Shampoo (1.7 oz)- NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil* (.18 oz)*Variations in color unknown.As with the first and second edition, Target is also including a coupon for $3 off Beauty purchase of $15 or more.All of the samples appear to be deluxe which makes this box a great value!I ordered mine yesterday. Will you be purchasing a Beauty Box as well?

Monday, August 18, 2014

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think it's been a full year since I last typed a post? Said year has been quite a busy one and although I thought I would make more time to blog throughout it - I didn't. Now I'm back!!!

Please, try to contain your excitement!

Just kidding. ;-)

I have a lot of fun posts coming soon including a complete review of my upcoming family cruise on the Disney Fantasy. I'll also be reviewing my first Golden Tote and my second pair of Tieks by Gavrieli (LOVE em' and you will too). I've also mentioned in the past that I would like to improve upon the content of my blog and I'll be including media reviews and hopefully a few makeup tutorials.

I know there are many who are interested in the above mentioned, so I'll be sure to make each review as in depth as I can.

Sunday, August 25, 2013

Hello!I haven't posted on my blog for about two months - and definitely for a good reason! I had surgery about two weeks ago and in the few months before it I stayed busy preparing for the most part. I've really missed updating. I think I might change the direction of this blog though. But more on that later. I hope my readers will stick with me.<3

Sunday, June 16, 2013

I just had to do a Gillette product haul after I saw a movie ticket promotion on Proctor & Gamble's e-store! Right now you can get two FREE movie tickets if your purchase $49 worth of products from Gillette, Braun, Oral-B, or Old Spice. Since my husband and I want to see Man of Steel, but don't particularly like to pay expensive movie ticket prices, I thought it was the right time to stock up on some of our current favorite Gillette products. As I said in a previous post, I'm use a Schick Hydro Silk Razor, so the Venus Razor and cartridges are for the toiletry basket we keep in our guest bedroom for when my sister visits.If you're savvy enough with the online coupons P&G provides on their website, you too can get some of the same great deals I found! For instance, the Gillette Fusion ProGlide Manual Razor was only $1.00 when I applied THIS coupon after adding a pack of razor cartridges to my shopping cart.

When your products arrive from P&G, you will find a voucher with two codes to redeem your tickets through Fandango.Keep in mind that new customers get 15% off their first purchase! Also, shipping is free on all orders $25.00 or more.

Friday, June 14, 2013

I skipped a month or so of Julep to cut back on the amount of subscriptions I currently have - but this past month I forgot to skip and I'm glad I did.The box theme of the month is "Sail Into Summer". With the nautical theme circulating most of my subscriptions, I've been one happy woman! As I've stated in previous posts I love, love, love anything nautical especially when I can incorporate it into my everyday look somehow.I'm still a little bummed that Julep retired my original style profile, American Beauty. I've since been defaulted to Boho Glam. Eh, whatever. *fake sob*

As usual, I'm impressed by Juelp's box presentation. My polish is always neatly packaged and I can count on getting a fun extra! This month I got three pieces of salt water taffy by Dolle's. I couldn't help myself - I gobbed one down before I had a chance to snap a photo. :-P

Ha. My lazy attempt at swatching the DD Crème...

The Boho Glam polish selections of this month are Lexie (dandelion yellow crème) and Dianne (mint green crème). Both shades are such happy colors! The beauty product selection is Julep's own DD Crème. Are we really already up to DD now?! I received the shade Light, but after further swatching it looks like it's a bit dark against my very fair skin tone (eh, the sun doesn't like me...even in the summer!). I'm trying not to make any judgements about it until I've had a chance to apply it to my face with my Beautyblender. I'll be posting soon about my comparison of BB, CC, and DD creams/crèmes so you'll see if it worked out for me after all.Julep Maven is a monthly subscription service. Each box is $19.99 per month, but you can skip any month should you opt to do so if you don't like any of the available selections. You'll accumulate JULES with every box purchase and friend referral, and also gain access to the Secret Store! Be sure to use the code JULEPVIP at checkout to get your first box for only 99 cents!!! Click HERE to subscribe.**Referral link included.

Monday, June 10, 2013

Right now if you use your cell phone to text the word SCHICK to 24444 you can request a FREESchick Hydro Silk Razor!!! Simply click the link provided via text and follow the on-screen instructions. Expect to see your razor within 6-8 weeks (though it might come sooner).

I received this razor from BzzAgent several weeks ago and I love it! It's definitely the closest shave you'll get from a razor made for women when compared to similar products on the market. I'm glad I'll now have a spare to keep in my bathroom. Don't miss this freebie Ladies!!!